- Apparently someone at this company thought I was charming
and not like a total loser. (laughs)
(playful music)
- So, data science is a pretty specialized field
and I kind of fell into it by accident.
I had no intentions of being a data scientist.
- I moved to LA about a year and six months ago with no job,
no place to stay, none of that,
and I was just kinda like interning around the city of LA.
- I had my own small YouTube channel
and I was a big BuzzFeed fan girl.
I watched like all the videos.
I like had all my favorites.
- I was in my final week of college doing finals
and I freaked out one night
and was like well I need to get a damn job.
- I'm a very big soccer fan and I was in a betting pool
with a bunch of my friends and I was doing really well in it
so I was like, you know what?
I bet I could write an algorithm
that does all this betting for me on scale
and I could just sit back and just rake in the cash.
So I went and starting teaching myself data science
using free online courses for the sole purpose
of writing a betting algorithm and getting rich off of it.
- When I found out that they were hiring,
a friend of mine who had went through the internship here
said, "Oh, you'd be perfect for this.
"I'll recommend you."
- One night I went out
and I got extremely, extremely intoxicated.
I got back home at about like three in the morning
and my drunk friend convinced me
that I should look for jobs.
- I applied for like seven jobs at this company
and then after that I graduated, lived my life,
and the night of my birthday actually I got an email
from Buzzfeed to do a video interview.
So heres the thing, I was intoxicated
because I had been drinking since like 9:00 a.m.,
and then I saw the interview and I was like (bleep).
I actually need to look appropriate and look nice
and not look like I've been having like five tequila shots.
- I was like, you know, BuzzFeed's a viral company.
They like internet things and trends on the internet.
So, I tweeted: if this tweet gets 1,000 retweets,
BuzzFeed has to hire me
because that's how the internet works.
- I got called in for my interview.
On the way I got very nervous
so I kept checking my phone
to make sure I was going the right way,
and one of the times I was checking my phone,
don't check your phone while driving!
I didn't notice the person in front of me stopped moving
and rolled right into them.
I wasn't going super fast but I definitely hit the car
in front of me.
- And I was like,
oh, if this catches on it will be
like the most epic BuzzFeed article.
It didn't catch on.
It got nowhere near 1,000 retweets.
I don't even know if anyone at BuzzFeed ever saw it.
It was just kinda like a really sad thing
and I was like I kinda wanted to just delete
the tweet just 'cause I was like,
oh, this is embarrassing for me that I put this out there
and got nowhere near where I wanted.
So I was like now it's just a sad BuzzFeed article.
- Immediately I called the person I was meeting here
at BuzzFeed for my interview and being like,
"I might be late, I just hit a car."
And I like kinda was starting to cry
and this person on the other line was like,
"Uh, are you okay?
"Don't worry about it we can like adjust your time."
I'm like, "No, no I think I'll figure it out."
- I did the video interview and I looked at the camera
and I was like, "Hi, my name is Joyce
"and I'm really fun-loving."
I don't even remember much of what it said.
It was mostly like, "What's your favorite BuzzFeed video?"
And I couldn't think of crap.
So I was like, "Oh, I really love the dry ice."
- So then the guy gets out of the car
and we have a discussion and he clearly just doesn't want
to deal with me so he kinda, like, leaves.
Never heard from this guy again, so I'm still sorry sir.
And I like get to BuzzFeed and I'm still on time.
I'm 5 minutes early.
And they're like, "Do you need a moment?"
And I'm like "No, no I got this."
And I like ran upstairs still shaking.
- Funny enough nobody from BuzzFeed actually got back
to me when I applied on the website and so I went online
and went on Twitter and on LinkedIn
and every recruiter I found that was for Buzzfeed,
anybody that said anything about a BuzzFeed type thing.
I just started messaging them directly
and after two months and I think seven or eight stages
of interviews I eventually got hired
to be the first data scientist in BuzzFeed LA's operations.
- While I was out here interning I ended up being
an extra in a BuzzFeed video
where I met another production coordinator here.
We ended up getting coffee,
and then I just kind of told him some of my experiences
and then I showed him the tweet.
He laughed at it and he was like,
"Yeah no, that's not gonna work."
But he told me to apply for the position.
I applied, interviewed, and the rest is history.
- And at the end of the interview I was like,
"Oh, what are you looking for in an employee here?"
And they said, you know,
someone who kinda goes with the flow.
And I was like, "Well, if you want someone that goes
"with the flow, I got in an accident on the way here
"and still made it to my interview on time."
And they were like...
- And then like a couple days later I was asked to come
to California for the real interview.
And they really liked me
and it's all because I got drunk one night on my birthday.
- Overall I would say the funniest part of all of this is,
you know, me landing this really big career jump
as a result of gambling and drinking that got me here.
- I made it!
Fan girl turned employee.
It's a Cinderella story.
- If you put it out there, I mean, whatever your goal is,
whatever your dreams are,
no matter how like ridiculous they may seem at the time.
It's really weird that in some way,
I think putting it out there makes it more real.
So you know, put it out there.
The universe might give it to you.
(playful music)